BELAGAVI: In a miraculous incident, a youth who was considered to be dead after he fell 140 feet down a cliff while attempting to take a selfie at Gokak waterfalls in Belagavi district was found to be alive in the wee hours of Sunday.
A team of youngsters headed by noted wildlife activist and rescuer Ayub Khan succeeded in rescuing the victim, who escaped with minor injuries. The rescued youth has been identified as Pradeep, a resident of Kalaburgi and at present works in a Bank at Belagavi.
According to sources, Pradeep had been to Gokak along with his friends and while visiting Gokak waterfalls on Saturday evening, he walked to the edge of the cliff to take a selfie. While doing so, he lost balance and fell down. At the very intimation, police and a team led by Khan rushed to the spot and commenced the search operation. When they could not find Pradeep till dark hours, they considered him to be dead and decided to continue the search operation on Sunday morning.
Speaking to The New Indian Express, Khan recalled that he received a call at about 3 am, giving him shocking news that Pradeep himself called his friend on his mobile phone and asked to avail immediate help as he is stuck somewhere in rocks. Khan's team soon started the search operation at around 3.30 am.
Ayub Khan said that he spoke to Pradeep on his mobile phone and asked him to put down his location following which the team succeeded in tracing and rescuing him at about 5.30 am. Khan explained that Pradeep luckily had fallen 90 feet down in a huge 9 feet bed of dry leaves and later rolled about 60 slopes of rock. Due to the same he was saved, he concluded.